My course provides a basic introduction to the main philosophical questions and issues concerning epistemology, scientific knowledge and methodology. It puts an emphasis on different problems of induction, including the so-called old (David Hume) and new (Nelson Goodman) riddle of induction. Commonly, induction is a method of reasoning in which a generalization is argued to be true based on individual examples that seem to fit with that generalization. For example, after observing that the sun rose yesterday and the day before yesterday etc., one might inductively infer that the sun rises every day. Problems of induction are particularly suited to catch students’ interest because it probably makes them wonder about elements of our knowledge which are all too often taken for granted. They learn to challenge unquestioned ‘truths’, which not only teaches us in the art of reflection – what can philosophical reflection on the history of science tell us about the reliability of scientific methodology? –, but might also have a sustainable impact on their academic interests and careers.

The hubris of spurious precision, complexity, systemic risks and many other factors and phenomena contributed to the global financial crisis of 2007-09. Lessons learned highlighted the need to reconsider the scope and nature of financial literacy initiatives and programs. We study how modern financial markets work, we learn about their peculiarities and discuss how we can thrive in light of the immense challenges that turbulent, dynamic and complex systems pose.